I spent much of three summers in northern Nigeria, 1998-2000. I am very grateful that the world is now paying attention to Boko Haram there–my disappointment is that it has taken so long to get the world’s attention. Boko Haram as such did not exist at that time, but the forms of extremism that fed into it did.
Normally I restrain myself and only offer Bible studies to be included on this site, but this issue was too close to my heart to ignore. Following is my post on this issue with the Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-s-keener/boko-haram-is-not-new_b_5303689.html
It is said that Boko Haram wants to discredit the government and establish an Islamic state in northern Nigeria. It is not satisfied with states that declared sharia there years ago.